Jan Paul van Hecke branded Rovers’ display in the Blackpool draw as ‘not good enough’ and says they must raise their standards if they are to have a chance of making the play-offs.
While van Hecke felt recent performances had deserved more than the points return Rovers had, the on-loan defender said they could have no complaints after being held to a 1-1 draw by Blackpool.
That saw them unable to take advantage of their rivals dropping points, with Rovers remaining outside of the play-off spots having won just two of their last 13 matches.
They failed to take advantage of Sam Gallagher’s early goal, as they were pegged back early in the second half.
And giving an honest assessment of the draw, van Hecke said: “We didn’t deserve more than a point, we didn’t play well.
“The last few games we’ve played well and the points didn’t come, but that wasn’t good enough and we only got a point.
“First 10 or 15 minutes we started really well and we scored but after that it slipped away through our fingers.”
The defensive trio of van Hecke, captain Darragh Lenihan and Scott Wharton have been among Rovers’ most consistent performers this season, but manager Tony Mowbray felt they failed to deal with balls into the box well enough.
The goal conceded from a set play early in the second half was ‘not good enough’ in the eyes of van Hecke who felt the ball should have been cleared before Marvin Ekpiteta could find the corner.
And giving his take on the performance, van Hecke said: “Too many players weren’t at it.
“Talking about myself, that wasn’t my best game, my level wasn’t as good as it should be.
“It’s no excuse, we need to be better.
“Blackpool worked really hard, and are a tough opponent, but with a bit more we could have had three points but it doesn’t work like that.”
With Sheffield United and Middlesbrough both dropping points, Rovers were unable to take advantage as they would have hoped, knowing a win would have taken them back into the play-offs.
“If you look from both sides, one side you think it’s good they dropped points, but you can think then that if we would have won we would have been sixth,” the 21-year-old said.
“We’re still in there, but we need to play better than that for sure.”
Determined to stay positive though in the race for the play-offs, van Hecke says Rovers must now turn their attentions to the Good Friday trip to Peterborough United and put in a display he knows they are capable of.
He added: “There are five more games to play, the games are stopping soon, but we’re still in there.
“We’re really close, but we need to finish really strong.
“We’ll go to Peterborough, hopefully with many fans, and we can get the win.
“I still think we can do it, the last few games we didn’t play bad, we need to get the standards up and win at Peterborough.”
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